


Here we are again

by DrunkenWhaler



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Humor, F/M, robot!wheatley
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2014-09-15
Packaged: 2018-01-23 22:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1582433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrunkenWhaler/pseuds/DrunkenWhaler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And if she learned one thing, it was that coincidences were rarer than an alien attack. And guess what already happened? </p>
<p>When people go missing around the shack which had spit her out three years ago, Chell knew it could not be a coincidence. And it seemed that her own personal hell was not about to let her go either. She finds herself back in Aperture, meeting too well known faces and being confronted with a request from GLaDOS herself. And on her way through the abadoned facility, she will encounter secrets that had been buried too long.</p>
<p>(Post portal 2 fanfic)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Shack

**Author's Note:**

> (Hey there. So I had the idea for this in my head way too long and I'd like it to share with you guys. I rated it Teen but there will be some violence and blood (nothing too bad though) later on. Also prepare for future human!wheatley. And please keep in mind that english is not my native tounge. I will do my best though and try to improve)

 

„Don't go there, it is haunted!“.

„I know! Ain't goin' there, it's them aliens lurkin' there!“. The other bearded man barked a laugh. „Nah, not them.“ He leaned closer to his friend, taking a sip from the bitter beer in front of him. „It's the government!“, he said to him, not even bothering to whisper. His friend was still looking skeptical, leaning back in the creaky chair. But he was still listening to the other's ramble. „Not just our's! The russian's, for sure. Last month I saw some suits walkin there.“ He took another sip, gulping down the yellowish liquid. „Never came back!“. He finally announced, putting down the glass with a thump. „Ya drank too much beer, mate!“; the other guy finally said, crossing his arms in front of a dirty shirt. „I know what I saw! I was off to work, like 6 in the goddam morning, and there they were. In front of that ragged shack.“. This time the other kept silent, eyes widened and listening intensely. „I wondered what they were doin' there but had to go. And no one saw 'em.“

The man's friend continued talking but Dan had heard enough. He had been sitting in the diner for some hours, basically running on caffeine. He was studying the newspaper but had stopped ever since the two men walked in. He had stopped skimming the job offers and listened, wondering why. Two rednecks in the middle of nowhere, blabbering in a beer haze. The usual. But they were right. Dan rose, folding the paper together. As he stepped out into the glaring sun, he did not feel warm at all. It was a brilliant day, only specks of clouds dotting the sky. The wind was blowing his hair all around his face, carrying the smell of corn and wheat. And that scent he would follow. He went past destroyed and new buildings. The attack had been horrifying. _'But we managed to pick ourselves up.'_ he had heard an eldery woman comment the other day. _At least a little bit of faith restored.'_ , he mused. Dust was blown across the streets and a shiver ran down his spine. The rest of the way, Dan jogged. When he finally arrived, sweat was streaming down his back. He gasped for air, swiping sweat off his forehead. But all exhaustion was forgotten as soon as he looked up.

There it was. He blinked against the sun but the shack was still there, surrounded by golden wheat swaying in the wind. He straightened himself, suddenly doubts clouding his mind. Why had he felt the urge to jogg all the damn way here? The shack was nothing out of the ordinary, besides it staying in the middle of damn nowhere. And it was locked. No matter how much he shook the door or even kicked it, it wouldn't budge. Curiosity had sparked by now. He went round the little building, crushing stands of golden wheat as he stomped round. The sheets of rusty metal were welded tightly, not even allowing a glance inside. After another attemps of searching and shaking, Dan was finally stepping back. Without any tools, there was definitely no way of getting in. „God, why was I even bothering... embarrassing...“, he muttered to himself. All the running and trying, all his reward was sweaty clothes, dirt and a cut on his left palm. He cursed under his breath and little clouds of dust formed around him as he patted off the dust. „Damn pandora's box.“, he muttered before he turned away.

**Click.**

The sound was gone so quick that Dan thought it was his imagination playing tricks on him. Mocking him. But when he turned around he saw the firmly shut door opened a crack. „What the..“, he said alound. The door creaked slightly as he opened it more. Darkness greeted him. ** _„Welcome, test subject, at at the Aperture Enrichment center. Testing is the future and it starts with you.“_ **

Something grabbed Dan's waist firmly and pulled him inside the shack. Frantically he tried to hold onto anything but the pull was merciless. Darkness enveloped him and he _fell..._

 

_-3 days later-_

 

"Goddamit! Another one! I said it, din' I?“. The man was swaying slightly, glass of beer in his hand. But miraculously not a single drop was spilled as he talked to his friend. The woman rolled her eyes. After a day's work, she had longed for a little bit of peace and a sweet cappuchino. But she should have known better since the past weeks, the city was in a constant state of near-panic. Twelve people missing and no one had an idea how and where. And besides certain rumours were circling that made her head hurt. It was now three years ago since that all happened. God she needed her coffee.

The hot beverage was a sweet bliss but did not drown the memories. She could have been far away by now. Leaving all behind. Starting all over. But it was like gravitation which held her here in place. Like cerberus guarding hell. The dark haired woman closed her eyes as she held the mug to her lips and let it fall on her as an earsplitting bang shook the diner. Windows splintered and somewhere a kid started crying. A woman sitting behind her, sprang to her feet. „The aliens! They came back. They came back!“. Chell jumped to her feet, ignoring the coffe stain. She pushed through masses of panicking citizens opening the door and stepped on the crowded street. The blue sky was cut by a line of dark smoke, leading in a sharp angle towards the ground. Distressingly close towards _that_ place. People were shouting and hurrying towards their homes. All but not Chell. She tied her hoodie around her hips and started to run, heart beating fast.


	2. Down the rabbit hole

Even if she would have forgotten the way, which was inthinkable, it was now quite obvious where to go, because the crater was indeed impressive. Chell carefully stalked around the depression. She almost fell in twice. Loose earth was making the way quite hard and loose wheat was laying around everywhere. And not even thirty meters away, the shack was staying. And if she learned one thing, it was that coincidences were rarer than an alien attack. And guess what already happened? Upon further investigation, the woman realized that the crater itself was empty. No meteor, satellite or anything alien. Which would be good news if it were not for a single drag mark leading towards the shack. The one which she had scrambled out three years ago. Like in trance, she followed the plowed earth until she was right in front of it. Her heart was pounding madly and her legs felt weak. She should have just run away, let it be. Certainly it was no alien attack, just some meteor or space waste. The people would fuss about it for some more days and then it would be forgotten. She turned around, ready to just leave this mess to be cleaned by someone else but like in slowmotion, she felt earth give way under her legs. She made a startled yelp, trying to get a hold in the loose earth. Flailing, he skidded down into the crater, until she bumped against something hard with her back. Stars exploded in her vision and pain made her unable to move.

„Hello? Hey! Hey!“. All the pain had been forgotten as she heard a hauntingly familliar voice. Chell straightened herself, rubbing her hurting back. „Hey! Hey! I came from space!“. Three years ago had been the last time she heard the overly exited robotic voice. The space core was rotating wildly in his metal body, optic light focused on her as he babbled. „Forgot my space papers. Space cops after me. Chase in space! Space!“. The core continued his rant, seemingly unimpressed that it had in fact survived a collision from space. She grabbed it by it's handle and managed to pull it up from earth and stones. It was surprisingly heavy since she had not the aid of her portal gun. „Space. Up. I need to get up. To space.“, it blabbered happily as Chell heaved it over the edge, panting form exhaustion. At last, she climbed over the crater edge, shaking dirt from her already dirty clothes. Over the space core's rambling, she hadn't noticed that the shack had opened itself a bit. „Hey hey here come the space cops!“. Chell and the core were suddenly lifted from the ground. She yelped in surprise and horror. An all too familiar claw had her and the space core in an iron grip. No matter how much she flailed, it was pulling her inside the shack. „Get your paper ready for the space cops!“, the core yelled and Chell only could watch how they were being pulled into Aperture once more.  
They were so close to falling. Chell's eyes were watering up and her hair was fluttering madly. But still she grabbed on the metal claws for dear life. Such a fall without her boots was more than deadly and she did not want to die in a puddle of herself. Underneath her, she saw a chamber approaching rapidly. Her eyes widened and her heart seemed to explode as ground rushed closer. But in the last moments, the claws slowed down, releasing only Chell who stumbled upon reaching the ground and rolled down the small chamber. „Shoooooting stars!“; the core yelled before the claw vanished behind a wall panel and took the core with it. Chell still laid on the floor, dazed and amazed that she did not break all her bones at once. Groaning, she got on her feet, noticing a trail, where metal had been scratched against the floor panels. Anxiety was gripping her and all the memories came back with brute force. Moments of being almost poisoned by neurotoxins, being shot or let go over a bottomless pit. Chell closed her eyes and massaged her temples. She was panting while trying to fight the memories back. She clenched her teeth, trying to fight the panic down. A panic attack would not help at all. So instead she went on, past the massive metal doors which slid open for her. And on the ground, to her left, she saw him.  
She stopped right in her tracks, staring disbelievingly at the battered sphere. His white metal body was scorched and scratched badly, pieces of it ripped out. Nethertheless it was nearly a wonder that he had survived anyway. His lids were closed and he seemed.... dead. Chell's chest tightened up. Now little Wheatley looked beaten. Back then, he had been the most powerful being in the facility when they had plugged GlaDOS out. He had tried to kill her multiple times. Betrayed her, stabbed her in the back when she was so close to get out.  
Therefore, Chell drew a deep breath and went past the sphere. She did not realize that she held her breath until the metal doors slid open and closed as she stepped through. And she had not realized that his lids had opened a tiny bit.


	3. Black Hole

Her steps felt utterly heavy. But what did she expect upon walking in here? Closure? Aperture had been her prison for most of her life. And almost killed her. She stopped and sighed. Her hands found her face and she rubbed her temples, eyes closed. She was shaking, she realized. She forced herself to calm down. She had come here on her own. And GlaDOS would not kill her. At least she hoped that was still the case. She would walk out here again. In one piece and still functional. Chell looked past her shoulder, at the grey metal doors. There was this knot in her stomach again. She turned around again and kept going on. The betrayal still hurt her so much. Why even care about a treacherous little robot.

The next door beeped and turned, revealing an abadoned test chamber. At least she was quite sure it was abadoned, since the acid pits were empty and dry. But still little solace. Chell stepped forward. She was standing on a ledge, a steep drop leading to various platforms. With her portal gun and long fall boots little of a challenge. She caught herself already thinking out a way out. She shook herself. _Now you are thinking with portals_. She heard the mocking artificial voice commenting. She gritted her teeth in frustration and stepped close to the ledge. But it only confirmed what she was already suspecting. A dead end. She paced the ledge, thinking hard on a way to get out. Backtracking maybe? The door was still closed and she approached it, wating for it to turn and open. She frowned. The door would not move. She raised one hand and waved. Nothing. Her heart started to beat even faster as she tried again with both hands outstreched. There was a cold knot in her stomach and she punched the cold metal in a vain attempt to convice it to cooperate. She drew her hurting hand back, suddenly embarrassed by her outbreak. Yet suddenly, there was a slight tremor going on through the walls.

Chell gasped and stepped back from the ledge as the tremor reached her. With a swoosh, a wallplate gave way, offering an escape. Yet she did not step through. She bowed down, looking at the new pathway. It was not all dark, but lit enough to reveal where it would head. She shook her head, stepping back. Her head was pounding. The exit revealed an old catwalk over an sheer endless abyss. And then an emergency exit into a broad tube. She saw no turrets, cubes or some rubble shooting past. But it hissed so it was actually somewhat functional. She stuck her head inside the tunnel and began to crawl in. There was no other way besides being stuck there for good. Not many options for her. Her heart was pounding and she was grasping the rusty metal rods for dear life. From there she could see the rectangular box of the testing chamber and below a sheer endless pit. To her sides there were other chambers, some in a moderately good state, others being metallic skeletons. Carefully she got on her feet, never letting go of the rails. The whole construct creaked and swung but it held her. A tiny voice inside her would throw a scathing comment about her weight but she pushed it away. Actually, she was imagining to push it down the catwalk which was weirdly comforting. Upon closer examination, the tube was indeed functional. It was hissing air through leaks and vibrated softly. The emergency hatch was a bit down right, so she had to lean from her current position. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. Then carefully, she placed her hands on the cool plexiglass. She pawed her way to the hatch. A big red turnbutton signaled it to be the opener. A deep breath. She leaned forward, balancing between the tube and the catwalk. She gritted her teeth and yanked the button around. At first it seemed to be stuck in its position. In the years of the facility, it might have never been opened. The woman hissed and turned harder. Then with a jolt it gave way and turned. Chell gasped and frantically searched for anything to get a hold on. She could feel herself already falling into the endless depths. The hatch creaked and slid down, throwing her almost completely off balance. And then she felt the pull. She opened her mouth in a silent scream and tumbled into the tube which immediately shot her forward.

Her hair whipped in her field of vision, yet she could catch some glimpses of the outside. Production lines, turrets being brought into their lifes, rubble and cubes shooting past in other countless tubes. Gradually she became used to the speed. It was almost like last time. It was her second ride in one of Apertures transporting system. Yet last time she had not been alone. Her stomach clenched and she pushed away the thoughts about this blue eyed, treacherous sphere. Should he just rust for all she cared. The tube made a sharp drop down, almost dropping her into free fall. She gasped and stared below. She could see a chamber rushing towards her. Wide-eyed, she prepared for the impact. Lights replaced the gloom and finally she plunged into something. The momentum of her fall drove all breath out of her and made her see stars. Then she fell on the cold and hard ground wit a dull thump. Her vision was spinning and every bone in her body ached.

 _Whoooaaahh?_ The sound caught her offguard. Despite her protesting body she whirled around to look directly into a robotic face. She gasped and scrabled backwards. _Turret!_ Something screamed in the back of her head. _Uahh?_ But no, she was wrong. The sudden panic started to ebb away and she saw the other clearly now. A androidic robot was leaning over her. It's body resembled the built of a turret, therefore it had automatically startled her so much. Instead of red, an yellow eye was looking at her, lid half closed which made it look almost worried. It chirruped again, reaching out for her. Chell flinched backwards and the robot pulled back its arm, clutching it to his body. Almost as if it was confused. She scrambled to her bruised feet, keeping a wary distance to the strange robot. She eyed it intensely. Wait! No, she had actually seen the robot before. Briefly but just before her release from this hell of a facility. Meanwhile, the robot seemed to try again, cautiously approaching Chell. She watched it, caution dissolving and turning into curiosity. It was well different than the other robotic inhabitants of Aperture. Unlike GlaDOS, it seemed to have a tiny shred of compassion hardwired into its circuits. The robot called out again. It was weird to watch it. It was wiggling and moving continuously, barely able to hold still. Chell let it near her, not letting her guard down though. The robot seemed to brighten up instantly. It let out a sound of exitement and waved at her. Chell raised an eyebrow in confusion. The robot waved again, this time rather beckoning her to follow. And only then she looked around in the chamber they were. Half destroyed and filled with rubble, it was a well known sight here. So it seemed that GlaDOS had been busy with other stuff then to tidy up chambers. The yellow robot broke her out of her course of thoughts. It waved again, the lid of its single eye playing in confusion. Chell sighed and followed the robot at last. It wouldn't go away most probably anyway.

The robot lead her through a maze of chambers and hallways. And with every step her legs seemed to grow heavier. There was only one way where it would lead her. And it was straight to its creator. The thought of meeting the murderous AI made Chell sick with a mixture of fear and anger. Throughout the time of her being trapped inside the facility, she had continously tried to kill her, push her into acid basins, crush her with iron spiked plates or flooding her system with neurotoxin. And Chell had managed to evade death ever since, resulting only into spurting the mad AI into new efforts. And against every bit of common sense, Chell had returned her from being a powerless and sassy potato. Though she doubted that the AI's desire to murder her had ceased, she sincerely hoped that GlaDOS had moved on and found something more worthwhile and not including her suffering a painful death. The yellow robot looked back as if making sure she was still there. Chell sighed as it walked through yet another door. She looked at the robot and silently wished she'd half the enthusiasm it showed. Because right now she only wished to be outside and far away from her own personal hell. Another door passed and now the robot halted and waited for Chell to step beside her. Said woman took a deep breath and fought the panic rising. Then she took on that stoic face. Her strong face which had constantly taunted GlaDOS in her own way. Chell clenched her fists and waited. The robot patted her shoulders and went on. With a hiss the door turned and opened.


End file.
